Street food in Istanbul is a reflection of the city's soul
Istanbul is not just about the Bosphorus, palaces, mosques with tall minarets, the cries of cats and seagulls, tulips, and endless museums. Istanbul is unimaginable without quality street food!
Here, 24/7, anyone can be fed: adults, children, vegetarians, and meat lovers. Everyone will find something to their liking.
To ensure your impressions remain the best, you need to know what to try and where.
What is street food? It's what you can easily buy and eat on the go.
Street food in Turkey is delicious and budget-friendly. It's no secret that in recent years, inflation in the country has been breaking all records. Going to restaurants every day is an expensive pleasure. But street food can fully meet your needs and introduce you to local cuisine. Turks pay a lot of attention to hygiene. Food occupies perhaps the main place in their lives. So don't be afraid to eat in inconspicuous establishments. If locals dine there, it's a sign of quality. Believe me, if someone in the city starts preparing low-quality dishes, the residents of the area will be the first to know about it. Such a cafe will close within days.
What to eat? I'll tell you in this article.
Here, 24/7, anyone can be fed: adults, children, vegetarians, and meat lovers. Everyone will find something to their liking.
To ensure your impressions remain the best, you need to know what to try and where.
What is street food? It's what you can easily buy and eat on the go.
Street food in Turkey is delicious and budget-friendly. It's no secret that in recent years, inflation in the country has been breaking all records. Going to restaurants every day is an expensive pleasure. But street food can fully meet your needs and introduce you to local cuisine. Turks pay a lot of attention to hygiene. Food occupies perhaps the main place in their lives. So don't be afraid to eat in inconspicuous establishments. If locals dine there, it's a sign of quality. Believe me, if someone in the city starts preparing low-quality dishes, the residents of the area will be the first to know about it. Such a cafe will close within days.
What to eat? I'll tell you in this article.
Simit
The famous Turkish bagel sprinkled with sesame seeds. Hundreds of bloggers across Istanbul take photos with simit. The dough is soft and tender. On top is a crispy crust and golden sesame seeds. The secret of simit is that no sugar is added to the dough, but before sending it to the oven, it's dipped in sweet grape syrup - pekmez. That's why the taste is unlike any other pastry.
Simit is definitely worth trying in the right place. It's sold on red carts. With these, it's hit or miss. Often, cart owners even have social media accounts where they promote their business. But it's quite difficult to predict how fresh a particular vendor's simit is. It's best to try simits in bakeries that can be recognized by the word "fırın" and by the huge wood-fired oven. In bakeries, you usually won't see tourists. Here, mostly locals buy pastries. In such a place, simit will definitely be fresh from the oven! Another life hack - I advise avoiding chain establishments with European-style sandwiches. Their products are not very fresh. Having tried simit in such a place, you may be disappointed.
If you plan a boat trip with Courage-Voyage, be sure to bring a couple of simits with you. Seagulls love them! Feeding birds on the water is a special pleasure.
Simit is definitely worth trying in the right place. It's sold on red carts. With these, it's hit or miss. Often, cart owners even have social media accounts where they promote their business. But it's quite difficult to predict how fresh a particular vendor's simit is. It's best to try simits in bakeries that can be recognized by the word "fırın" and by the huge wood-fired oven. In bakeries, you usually won't see tourists. Here, mostly locals buy pastries. In such a place, simit will definitely be fresh from the oven! Another life hack - I advise avoiding chain establishments with European-style sandwiches. Their products are not very fresh. Having tried simit in such a place, you may be disappointed.
If you plan a boat trip with Courage-Voyage, be sure to bring a couple of simits with you. Seagulls love them! Feeding birds on the water is a special pleasure.
Berek, poacha, achma
Börek is a pie made of puff pastry with various fillings: meat, cheese, potato. Börek is cut with a large knife and placed in plastic containers with utensils. You can sit on a bench with a view of the sea and have a tasty snack. Buy from the same bakeries for locals. Make sure to eat it hot.
Poğaça - or a small pie. If you're starving, you can grab a couple. They come with cheese, minced meat, or potatoes. There's very little filling, you might not even notice it. It gives just a slight flavor.
Açma is a fluffy bagel with filling. Be sure to try it with olives.
Poğaça - or a small pie. If you're starving, you can grab a couple. They come with cheese, minced meat, or potatoes. There's very little filling, you might not even notice it. It gives just a slight flavor.
Açma is a fluffy bagel with filling. Be sure to try it with olives.
Corn
Boiled and charcoal-grilled corn is sold at every step. In winter, this is not the tastiest treat because corn simply doesn't grow in Turkey during this time. But in summer, you can confidently eat the yellow cob. The taste will transport you back to childhood, when your mother bought you hot corn on the beach in Sochi.
Chestnuts
Roasted chestnuts are the smell of winter Istanbul. Unlike corn, this is a dish that is especially wonderful in the cold season, as chestnuts ripen in autumn. They are sold on the street, in all tourist places, on carts with built-in stoves. Choose large chestnuts. They are tastier and more fleshy.
Doner kebab
There are a great many variations, as this is one of Istanbul's most popular street foods. But I recommend getting a döner dürüm. In Turkish, "dürüm" is anything wrapped in lavash. "Döner" is meat roasted on a grill, sliced into the thinnest pieces.
The dish is similar to shawarma. There's "et dürüm" - meat, or "tavuk dürüm" - chicken. In our shawarma, there's lots of herbs, salad, and vegetables. Here it's just meat. Lots of meat. A bit of french fries and, if you're lucky, a slice of tomato. Due to the special technique of preparing the meat, it turns out very juicy, so don't be confused by the absence of sauce. There are many places in the city where you can try döner. Choose the one you like. As always, the rule applies: the more locals, the tastier the food. Drink it with ayran.
The dish is similar to shawarma. There's "et dürüm" - meat, or "tavuk dürüm" - chicken. In our shawarma, there's lots of herbs, salad, and vegetables. Here it's just meat. Lots of meat. A bit of french fries and, if you're lucky, a slice of tomato. Due to the special technique of preparing the meat, it turns out very juicy, so don't be confused by the absence of sauce. There are many places in the city where you can try döner. Choose the one you like. As always, the rule applies: the more locals, the tastier the food. Drink it with ayran.
Balik durum and balik ekmek
We've already learned the word "dürüm". Now let's figure out "balık". It's simple. In Turkish, "balık" means fish. Balık dürüm is fish in lavash. Just imagine: charcoal-grilled mackerel fillet, herbs, onions, crispy lavash with spices, slightly sweet pomegranate sauce. All this magnificence mixes with the smell of the salty Bosphorus, because balık dürüm is prepared on its shores. In the Karaköy area and beyond the Galata Bridge. This is a very simple and delicious dish! I recommend ordering a drink called şalgam with it. It's made from beetroot brine. You can ask for the spicy version. I understand it sounds scary, but combined with fish, it's something incredible.
On the streets of Istanbul, you can also find balık ekmek - fish in bread. But in my opinion, it's much tastier in lavash.
On the streets of Istanbul, you can also find balık ekmek - fish in bread. But in my opinion, it's much tastier in lavash.
Kumpir
Turkish baked potato. The principle is the same. Large tubers are baked in an oven. Butter and cheese are added to the hot baked potato. After that, you choose from many different toppings. In Turkey, they serve olives, corn, cabbage, sausage, couscous, mushrooms, and much more. The most famous location where kumpir is sold is the Ortaköy promenade. You can get there by ordering a Bosphorus cruise from Courage-Voyage and making a stop for kumpir in one of the most beautiful parts of the city.
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Islak burger
Or wet burger. The composition is simple: bread, patty, and sauce. The secret is in the cooking technology. Burgers are placed in a special "aquarium" where steam is released due to temperature effects. The bun is soaked in sauce and meat juice. It's great to grab a couple of these burgers when returning from a party. Your head definitely won't hurt in the morning. Try them in the Taksim Square area.
Lahmacun
A very thin crispy flatbread with an equally thin layer of minced meat, tomato sauce, vegetables, and herbs. Lahmacun is eaten by wrapping vegetables in it. Drink it with ayran. My personal recommendation is lahmacun with hazelnuts.
Tavuk pilav
Or rice with chicken. Sold in small cafes and mobile carts. Sounds simple, but that's exactly the point. The chicken is boiled, the rice is dietary. Chickpeas are added to the pilaf. This dish is perfect for feeding children. Or for those who are tired of spicy Eastern flavors. The pilaf is placed in plastic containers, and utensils are provided so you can enjoy it somewhere in the park.
Pide
Turkish pizza in the shape of a boat. The fillings are limited only by the chef's imagination. Cheese, vegetables, meat, sausage. My favorite option is with kavurma (something like our stewed meat).
Chi kefte
Vegetarian bulgur and spice patties. "Çiğ" means raw, "köfte" means meatballs. Initially, çiğ köfte was indeed made from raw minced meat. It was mixed with a large amount of hot spices. And kneaded by hand for a long, long time. No less than 3 hours. Through this process, the meat "cooked." Now the government has banned making çiğ köfte from meat, as it goes against all sanitary norms. Enterprising chefs quickly came up with a recipe that doesn't contain a gram of minced meat. Due to tomato paste and bulgur, the patties look like real ones. The taste is unusual, spicy, and a bit hot. Çiğ köfte is wrapped in lavash together with herbs, vegetables, and pomegranate sauce. You can ask for a less or more spicy version.
To try traditional çiğ köfte with meat, you need to go to eastern Turkey. In the city of Şanlıurfa, they still cook according to old recipes, organizing whole evenings with dancing and music.
To try traditional çiğ köfte with meat, you need to go to eastern Turkey. In the city of Şanlıurfa, they still cook according to old recipes, organizing whole evenings with dancing and music.
Midye dolma and midye ekmek
Midye dolma are mussels stuffed with rice. They are sold both on the streets of Istanbul and in chain cafes. I don't recommend buying them on the street, as it's difficult to tell how fresh the shells are. But chain establishments have been operating for years, so this option is more reliable. Moreover, you can take a whole "bucket" of mussels with you to snack on the go.
The mussels are first boiled, then stuffed with a rice filling with spices and stewed until ready. They are eaten with hands, after being drizzled with lemon juice.
Midye ekmek are fried mussels with sauce, served in bread.
The mussels are first boiled, then stuffed with a rice filling with spices and stewed until ready. They are eaten with hands, after being drizzled with lemon juice.
Midye ekmek are fried mussels with sauce, served in bread.
Kokorech
A street food option for the brave. These are lamb offal with black pepper, roasted on a skewer. Served in bread, washed down with ayran. Well-prepared kokorech doesn't have an unpleasant smell; on the contrary, its aroma is very appetizing. I sincerely believe that a party in Istanbul went perfectly only if it ended with eating kokoreç at dawn.
As you can see, Istanbul street food is rich and diverse. It's impossible to stay hungry here. Even if it's night or holidays. At any time, you'll find something to treat yourself to.
This is not just food on the go, it's a reflection of culture, rich history, and the soul of the city. From aromatic simits and juicy dürüms to savory mussels and spicy çiğ köfte – each flavor tells its own story, steeped in Eastern color.
This is not just food on the go, it's a reflection of culture, rich history, and the soul of the city. From aromatic simits and juicy dürüms to savory mussels and spicy çiğ köfte – each flavor tells its own story, steeped in Eastern color.
Ekaterina Kosova
- author of the article
I moved to Istanbul before it became mainstream. I love exploring the eternal city and discovering interesting and delicious places. I write texts, professionally stroll and travel, and freeze moments through photos and videos.
